Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1887-09-01
A MILE A MINUTE.
The Grizzled Strangers Unparal-
leled Feat.

81 have made mile minute on
horseback. in the saddle"
AS grizzled stranger with quartz
lite pin made this remark, silence fell
upon the little group of turfmen who
sat in the corridor of the Windsor
Hotel, at Denver, the other evening.
The man who had just told of driving
an unrecorded mile in 2:11 arose de-
liberately, brushed the ashes off his
cigar, buttoned his overcoat and
walked away.
II am liar, myself" somebody be-
gan.
Hold on" said the stranger, "this
isn't lie. It's cold, clammy truth,
andTll back it with money"
"Have you the papers for it?''
''No, nor the judges affidavits. In
fact, nobody saw it except myself, but
if you will permit me to tell you the
circumstances, I'll leave it to yourself
whether it isn't afact."
DltLc away.
The group drew closer Even the
man who had walked off suspended his
conversation with the hotel clerk and
listened on the quiet. The grizzled
stranger removed section of tobacco
from his mouth and began:
"fhis happened five years ago last
fall l was living in Leadville at the
time, but had mining interests that
took me frequently into the outlying
districts, for a radius of perhaps a
dozen miles. These trips l nearly
always made on horseback, on tough
little broncho, tough mouthed, trained
to mountain roads, and capable of
keeping up a jog-trot at a pinch for
twenty hours on a stretch. On the
occasion in question l started very
early one clear, cold morning for a
claim / owned on the other side of the
divide, on the slope of what is called
Gold mountain-you can find it by
looking on any map. To reach it | had
first to cross Tennessee Park and then
to wind over a very crooked tortuous
trail that gradually assembled to pass
somewhere above Timber Pine. 1t was
not more than two miles as the crow
flies, but nine by the road, owing to
the frequent zigzagging or lacking
made necessary by the steepness of the
range.
81 took things easy, and it was about
noon when l reached the claim. had
couple of men at work there, ate
dinner at their cabin, and then went
over to look at the shaft. One has no
idea how rapidly time passes under
ground, where every thing is dark,
and when l came up l was surprised
to find that it was nearly four o'clock,
and the shadows of pimons hundred
yards off had crawled up to the wind
lass. l was annoyed, too, for there
was suggestion of snow in the air,
and the ride across Tennessee Park in
a storm is-well the less said about il
the better SO lost no time in get
ting into the saddle, and pushed rapid
" ahead toward the pass | had to &C
quite little distance before reached
it, and all the time the sky grew
grayer, and grayer. and presently q
few flakes began to fall. 1 urged the
broncho, and finally began the de-
scent.
THE road beyond the pass led down
u long, straight incline for about a
quarter of mile. This took it to the
fringes oftimber pine, and then it made
detour of nearly two miles to get
around spur of the range. At that
point paused. The idea occurred tC
me that l could make short cut by
going directly over the spur ano
striking the trail on the other side
The range was not particularly steer
at this place, but rather a succession
of rough eminences, and the undertake
inc did not seem to be accompanied
by danger A sudden, raw wine
decided me. turned the broncho OF
the road and started.
1.-THE plan appeared more feasible a.
/ advanced. What looked like steel
ascents at distance proved to b'
gentle ones, and l was soon pretty
nearly across. The spur was wei
wooded with old pine trees, some o
which had rotted as they lay, and OF
the far side the declivity extende'
down at an even slope clear to thu
valley, where big rocks and bowlder
looked like grains of blasting powder
and the road like a tiny streak. re
member yet how. between the ire
tops, 1 caught glimpse OF the parl
with the Arkansas river wlndln!
through it, and the whole thing look
ING like some map in my old geog
raphy. That was the last thing tina
impressed itself on my mind before M
horse staggered, stumbled, plunged
little. and then came down with
crash. first on his fore legs and the
fiat on his belly. his head down hill
can't readily describe it, but he fell i
such way that my right leg, withou
being crushed or even much bruised
was twisted in the stirrup strap an
caught fast.
Right here let me stop to explain